


I Love You

by Jayde_Spell



Category: Oz (TV)
Genre: Canon Character of Color, F/M, Gloria needs to grow a pair, Infidelity, Minor Character Death, One-Sided Relationship, Religion reference, Silvertongue, Stalking, Unhappy marriage, Unrequited Love, breaking oaths, ryan’s a shark, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 17:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17584760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jayde_Spell/pseuds/Jayde_Spell
Summary: “Depression and obsession don’t mix well. I’m poisoned and my body doesn’t feel well.” - XXXTENTACION.O’Reily’s still sending the letters. The ones that make a shiver run down her spine, the ones that make her weak in the knees, and make her sick to her stomach.Sick. He makes her sick.





	I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> Non-Beta’d. Please be gentle (:

Gloria hasn’t asked for much in life. 

She’d been handed a decent card, for sure. Two loving parents who financially supported her through Med school, who emotionally supported her through her rocky relationship with Preston. Everything. 

In the beginning - 

She’d wanted to help people when she took her oath as a doctor. 

-

She remembers when she was asked to serve as a member of a medical team in a men’s prison. 

She and Preston had thought over it carefully (and she’d prayed about it privately - Preston was not a religious man). They had both come to an agreement that this would be a good opportunity for her to serve and to also gain good experience so she could do whatever she wanted after it. 

-

Gloria never asked for much.

A loving husband, food on the table, and a place to serve. 

That’s all she needed.

-

As the years went by in Oz, so did all her convictions. It seemed so sudden. One day she had looked herself in the mirror and realized that she was not the person she had been. 

It wasn’t a good look. 

Dino Ortenelli was dead. 

She wanted to feel bad, even needed to feel bad. 

But she didn’t. 

She can’t make eye contact with herself anymore. 

-

Ryan O’Reily was about the most handsome man she had ever met. 

There was something in the way talked - that’s it - in the way he strung his words together. The way he could turn just about anything into a pretty picture. 

It had been a long time since anyone had called her pretty and she felt flattered by it. 

Her days in Emerald City often left her feeling jaded and disheartened. Preston at first, to his credit, attempted to put himself back into her good graces. Bought her roses and called her beautiful. 

She couldn’t help if all she saw were tattoos, anger problems, and battered fists. 

A man could only take so much from a woman. 

-

Since the separation it was growing harder and harder to remember what it felt like to be in love with him. 

Since Ryan started chemo she hadn’t wondered about feeling love. 

-

She forced herself to look into her own reflection. To look into her own eyes. 

“You’re a professional doctor, for Christ’s sake, Gloria.” She ran a hand through her hair. “He’s a con - he’s hurt people and that’s why he’s in jail. He deserves to be in there. You -“

She can’t let any emotion loose, not now. 

“You are Doctor Gloria Nathan. You are still married to Preston Nathan. You are doctor, which means you have been called to serve. Not to love. Not to love.”

-

Ryan -

O’Reily hasn’t noticed the difference yet. The switch. It breaks her heart to see him reach out to her. Scratch that - it breaks her heart to ignore it. 

-

That’s when the shitshow starts. 

First, it’s the letters. 

They leave Gloria breathless and not in a good way. 

Then it’s the calls. Jesus, the calls. They have to stop! It must be over ten times a day. She doesn’t even want to think about how his funds are depleting in prison just so he can try to talk to her while she’s working. 

She can’t concentrate. She feels trapped. 

-

She knows it probably wasn’t a great idea to let Sister Pete handle the situation. 

She’s an adult woman for Christ’s sake, but it was too easy to yes. To imagine O’Reily being respectful of her space and a little chagrined. So she could still see him as a patient - but spare them both the embarrassment of a potential incident.

-

She doesn’t know what to do anymore. 

Nothing’s changed. 

Except - except

Preston. Oh my god, she chokes out. 

They may not have been in love but they loved each other - 

And to have his own brother - 

Gloria may have never asked for much in the past but she’s asking now. This has to stop.

**Author's Note:**

> poor Gloria 
> 
> Like?


End file.
